Octavia Minor

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Octavia Minor

Octavia Minor (69 - 11 BC), also known as Octavia the Younger or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
, Augustus (known also as Octavian), half sister of Octavia Major

Octavia Major

Octavia Maior was the daughter of the Roman governor and senator Gaius Octavius by his first wife, Ancharia. She was also an elder half-sister to Octavia Minor and Roman Emperor Augustus....
, and fourth wife of Mark Antony

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
.

One of the most prominent women in Roman history, Octavia was respected and admired by contemporaries for her loyalty, nobility and humanity, and for maintaining traditional Roman feminine virtues.

sister to Augustus, Octavia was the only daughter born of Gaius Octavius

Gaius Octavius

Gaius Octavius was the father of emperor Augustus. He descended from an old, wealthy equestrian branch of the Octavii family. Despite being from a wealthy family, his family was plebeian, rather than patrician....
' second marriage to Atia Balba Caesonia, niece of Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

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Life

Childhood

Full sister to Augustus, Octavia was the only daughter born of Gaius Octavius

Gaius Octavius

Julius Caesar

Nola

Nola is a city of Campania, Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennine Mountains. It is served by the Circumvesuviana railway from Naples....
, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
; her father, a Roman governor and senator, died in 59 BC from natural causes. Her mother later remarried, to the consul Lucius Marcius Philippus

Lucius Marcius Philippus

Lucius Marcius Philippus was a member of a Roman Roman Senate family. He was a descendant of Roman King Ancus Marcius and the son of the consul and censor Lucius Marcius Philippus ....
. Octavia spent much of her childhood traveling with her parents.

First marriage

Before 54 BC her stepfather arranged for her to marry Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor

Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor

Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, was a member of the distinguished Claudius family and a direct descendant of the consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus....
. Marcellus was a man of consular rank, a man who was worthy of her and was consul in 50 BC. He was also a member of the influential Claudian

Claudius (gens)

The gens Claudia was one of the oldest families in ancient Rome, and for centuries its members were regularly leaders of the city and empire....
family and descended from Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Marcus Claudius Marcellus , five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War....
, a famous general in the Second Punic War

Second Punic War

The Second Punic War lasted from 218 BC to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. It was the second of three major wars between Carthage and the Roman Republic....
. In 54 BC, her great uncle Caesar is said to have been anxious for her to divorce her husband so that she could marry Pompey

Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, commonly known as Pompey /'p?mpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a distinguished military and political leader of the late Roman Republic....
who had just lost his wife Julia

Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)

Julia Caesaris , 83 or 82 BC-54 BC, was the daughter of Julius Caesar the Dictator#Classical Rome, by his first wife, Cornelia Cinna minor, and his only child in marriage....
(Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's daughter, and thus Octavia's cousin once removed). However, Pompey apparently declined the proposal. So Octavia's husband continued to oppose Julius Caesar including in the crucial year of his consulship 50 BC.

Marcellus, a friend of Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Ancient Rome philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Constitution of the Roman Republic. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest rhetoric and prose stylists....
, was an initial opponent of Julius Caesar when Caesar invaded Italy, but did not take up arms against his wife's great uncle at the Battle of Pharsalus

Battle of Pharsalus

The Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar's civil war. On August 9, 48 BC, the battle was fought at Pharsalus in central Greece between forces of the Populares faction and forces of the Optimates faction....
, and was eventually pardoned by him. In 47 BC he was able to intercede with Caesar for his cousin and namesake, also a former consul, then living in exile. Presumably, Octavia continued to live with her husband from the time of their marriage (she would have been about 15 when they married) to her husband's death when she was about 29. They had three children: Claudia Marcella

Claudia Marcella

Claudia Marcella was the name of the two daughters of Octavia Minor, the sister of Emperor Augustus, from her first husband, the consul Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor....
Major, Claudia Marcella

Claudia Marcella

Claudia Marcella was the name of the two daughters of Octavia Minor, the sister of Emperor Augustus, from her first husband, the consul Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor....
Minor and Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)

Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul. He was descended through his father from Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a famous general in the Second Punic War....
. All three were born in Italy. Marcellus died in May 40 BC.

Second marriage

By a Senatorial

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
decree, Octavia married Mark Antony

Mark Antony

Fulvia

Fulvia was a Ancient Rome woman who lived in the 1st century BC. According to Plutarch, Fulvia had no interest in spinning nor managing a household nor ruling a husband with no ambition for public life; Fulvia wanted to govern or to command and be a commander-in-chief....
having died shortly before). This marriage had to be approved by the Senate as she was pregnant with her first husband's child and was a political marriage to cement the uneasy alliance between her brother Octavian and Mark Antony

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
- however, Octavia appears to have been a loyal and faithful wife to Antony. Between 40 BC–36 BC, Octavia lived with him in his Athenian

Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
mansion. She raised her children by Marcellus; Antony's two sons and their two daughters: Antonia Major

Antonia Major

Antonia Major , also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to Augustus, Rome?s first Roman Emperor....
and Antonia Minor

Antonia Minor

Antonia Minor , also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia was a daughter of Ancient Rome politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, sister of roman emperor Augustus, and mother of future emperor Claudius....
, who were born there. She travelled with him to various provinces.

Breakdown

The alliance was severely tested by Octavia's second husband abandoning her and their children for his former lover Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. Mark Antony and Cleopatra had already met in 41 BC, and subsequently had twins. After 36 BC, Octavia returned to Rome with her children by Mark Antony. On several occasions she acted as a political adviser and negotiator between her husband and brother. Mark Antony divorced Octavia in 32 BC, after she had supplied him with men and troops in 35 BC (to be used in his eastern campaigns). With Antony's rejection, divorce, and eventual suicide in 30 BC, Octavia became the sole caretaker of their children. She also became guardian of Antony's remaining children from his unions with both Fulvia

Fulvia

Iullus Antonius
Iullus Antonius

Iullus Antonius , also known as Iulus, Julus or Jullus, was the second son of Mark Antony and his third wife Fulvia. He is best known for being the famous lover of Julia the Elder....
(Fulvia),
Alexander Helios
Alexander Helios

Alexander Helios was a Ptolemaic dynasty prince and was the eldest son of Ancient Greeks#Hellenistic Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman Republic triumvir Mark Antony....
(Cleopatra),
Cleopatra Selene II (Cleopatra), and
Ptolemy Philadelphus
Ptolemy Philadelphus (Cleopatra)

Ptolemy Philadelphus was a Ptolemaic Prince and was the youngest child of Greeks Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman Republic Triumvir Mark Antony....
(Cleopatra)

Octavia did not marry a third time.

Life after Antony

Augustus had adopted her son Marcellus as his heir, but Marcellus died of illness in 23 BC. Octavia had opened the Library of Marcellus in his memory, while her brother completed Marcellus's theatre

Theatre of Marcellus

The Theatre of Marcellus is an ancient theatre built just before the Roman Empire. Its Roman architecture in the rioni of Rome of Sant'Angelo , Rome, provides one of the city's many popular spectacles or tourist sites....
in his honor.

Aelius Donatus

Aelius Donatus

Aelius Donatus was a Ancient Rome grammarian and teacher of rhetoric. The only fact known regarding his life is that he was the tutor of St. Jerome....
, in his , states that Virgil

Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
She never fully recovered from the death of her son and retired from public life, spending her final years dressing in mourning.

Death

Octavia died between 11 and 9 BC. Many read Dio 55.35.4 to date the event to 11, but Suetonius _Div. Aug_ 61 suggests that she died in 10/9. She was still alive when her niece Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus....
married Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
. Her funeral was a public one, with her sons-in-law carrying her to the grave. She was buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus. Augustus delivered the funeral oration and gave her the highest posthumous honors (e.g. building the Gate of Octavia and Porticus Octaviae

Porticus Octaviae

The Porticus Octaviae is an ancient structure in Rome.Built by Augustus in the name of his sister, Octavia Minor, at some time after 27 BC, in place of the Porticus Metelli, the porticus enclosed within its colonnaded walks the temples of Temple of Jupiter Stator and Temple of Juno Regina, next to the Theater of Marcellus....
in her memory. Augustus declined some other honors decreed to her by the senate, for reasons unknown. She was one of the first Roman women to have coins minted in her image, probably only Antony's previous wife Fulvia preemted her.

Issue

Children with Marcellus

Octavia and her first husband had one son and two daughters born late in their marriage:

Marcellus
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)

Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul. He was descended through his father from Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a famous general in the Second Punic War....
Claudia Marcella
Claudia Marcella

Claudia Marcella was the name of the two daughters of Octavia Minor, the sister of Emperor Augustus, from her first husband, the consul Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor....
Major
Claudia Marcella
Claudia Marcella

Claudia Marcella was the name of the two daughters of Octavia Minor, the sister of Emperor Augustus, from her first husband, the consul Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor....
Minor

Children with Mark Antony

Octavia and Mark Antony had two daughters by their marriage (her second, his fourth), and both were the ancestors of later Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

Antonia Major
Antonia Major

Antonia Major , also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to Augustus, Rome?s first Roman Emperor....
: grandmother to Emperor Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
.
Antonia Minor
Antonia Minor

Antonia Minor , also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia was a daughter of Ancient Rome politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, sister of roman emperor Augustus, and mother of future emperor Claudius....
: mother to Emperor Claudius
Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
, grandmother to Emperor Caligula
Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
, and great-grandmother to Emperor Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
.

Sources

Octavia's life and virtues

"Octavian was much attached to his sister, and she possessed all the charms, accomplishments and virtues likely to fascinate the affections and secure a lasting influence over the mind of a husband. Her beauty was universally allowed to be superior to that of Cleopatra and her virtue was such as to excite even admiration in an age of growing licentiousness and corruption."
says merely that she was "distinguished for her beauty and her virtue"

Discussion of Octavia

Octavia's family and descendants

include the Roman emperors Caligula
Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
, Claudius
Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
, and Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
.

External links

entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith